Elmer’s Clear Glue Slime Recipe for Kids

Make liquid glass or at least crystal clear slime with the kids. Our Elmer’s clear glue slime recipe is amazingly easy, and it’s the perfect chemistry and science demonstration the kids love. We stumbled upon a fun little fact to get our slime to look as clear as glass. Homemade slime is an awesome activity to share with kids, and we have the best slime recipes to share with you!

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME RECIPE FOR KIDS

GOT SLIME?

Are you new to the slime craze or have you been loving slime all along? I absolutely NEVER thought I would have tried making homemade slime four years ago.

My biggest thought was how can I ever get it to turn out like the pictures. Then I made some…

And you know what? It’s actually pretty easy. We have a handful of homemade slime recipes that I have used over and over again.

Our other basic slime recipes {although they contain boron too} will leave you with a cloudy clear slime instead unless you add food coloring, but we wanted an absolutely crystal clear slime like liquid glass!

ELMER’S CLEAR GLUE SLIME RECIPE UPDATE

I have a lot of readers express that this clear glue slime seems brittle and crumbly, so you are not alone if you experience this. White glue and clear glue are a bit different in viscosity and make slightly different slimes. I have always found that clear glue slime is simply thicker.

We have been experimenting with the recipe just a bit to find a better ratio of ingredients. So for clear glue slime we reduced the amount of borax used.

Another thought to keep in mind! If you ahem small kids who just really want to squeeze and stretch and make slime ooze, this probably isn’t the best recipe for them to have a ton of fun with. I would hands down try the saline slime solution recipe as it’s our go to for easy and stretchy slime making.

However, if you really want to make a super clear slime, this is the best recipe! I would suggest it’s great for older kids with more patient hands. You can break off small blobs and really stretch them quite thin for a super clear look. You can see more on our FB page!

Measure out 1/2 teaspoon of borax powder and 1 cup of hot water {hot tap water is fine and does not need to be boiled} as seen below. This is best done by adults.

Add the borax powder to the water and stir well to combine. You are making a saturated solution and you will see a few particles still floating around and settling to the bottom. Spend a minute stirring to make sure the powder is well incorporated.

Add the borax slime activator solution {borax powder and water} to the glue/water mixture. Start stirring! Your slime will begin to form instantly. Keep stirring until your slime has formed and remove immediately to a dry container.

There may be some liquid leftover. Discard liquid safely.

Continue to knead slime with your hands for several minutes to improve on the rubbery slime consistency. If I have time I let the slime rest in a clean, dry container for 15+ minutes. Otherwise, enjoy the slime play!

Slime can be stored in a container with a lid for several weeks we have discovered! Unless of course it’s getting dirty and gross. Make sure to wash hands thoroughly after playing with your slime {wash hands before to keep slime cleaner longer}.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SLIME MAKING PROCESS?

What’s the science behind the slime? The borate ions in the starch {or borax powder or boric acid} mixes with the PVA {polyvinyl-acetate} glue and forms this cool stretchy substance. This is called cross linking!

The glue is a polymer and is made up of long, repeating, and identical strands or molecules. These molecules with flow past one another keeping the glue in a liquid state.

The addition of water is important to this process. Think about when you leave a gob of glue out, and you find it hard and rubbery the next day.

When you add the borate ions to the mixture, it starts to connect these long strands together. They begin to tangle and mix until the substance is less like the liquid you started with and is thicker and rubberier like slime! Think day old spaghetti in the pan!

It’s actually not unsafe and you can check out Steve Spangler, scientist on Facebook to read more about that. If you want completely clear slime, you can not use saline solution because you also need to add baking soda which will disrupt the clarity.

Well you can make slime without borax, but if you want crystal clear slime you need to use borax or you will have cloudy slime. If you plan to add food coloring then you can use our liquid starch or saline slime recipes!

This recipe has been great and easy for me! Made over 10 x now. It works very well however I have realized there are many different factors that contribute to the gooeyness of the slime. Most of all ive realized never add too much borax! Any more than the 1ts and u will have hard slime.thanks again littlebins!

Sounds like you don’t live in the US? I have never added lotion to our slime recipes, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you find a different recipe. Have you checked Amazon for glue or is that not available?

Yes, it seems like clear glue is not the stretchiest with the borax slime recipe. You have to be much more patient with the stretch. Unless you need clear glue for a specific reason, try the saline solution slime recipe instead.

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